I turned my brain into a pretzel trying to figure out whether this phrase is redundant. If it's "persists" then adding "still" means that it has also persisted in the past and is now continuing to persist, right? How do these things differ semantically:
(1) The problem exists.
(2) The problem still exists.
(3) The problem persists.
(4) The problem still persists.
See this example (note that redundancy is commonly used in English and is acceptable...it's for emphasis, right?):
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/1...-byu-volleyball.html
That story does not disprove my point, because it happened in an ordinary rather than outlandish manner. Grotesque, racist private talk certainly still persists.
